New York Yankees

There are good reasons why the Yankees are 27-16 ...

A status report on the Yankees' disabled ballplayers ...

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Jason Vargas kept throwing strikes and catcher Chris Iannetta kept taking his walks – a winning formula for the Los Angeles Angels on Sunday. View full post on Yahoo! Sports – MLB – New York Yankees News

– Covering May 13th through May 19th games – Pitcher Rafael De Paula, 22, RHP, A 6 IP, 11 K, 1 BB, 3 H, 2 ER, 1 HR Notable: 23 Ks over last 2 starts (12 IP) This is the Rafael’s De Paula’s 2nd MLPW of the season, and he would have won last week if not for the performance of High-A Tampa’s Shane Greene. De Paula’s numbers to date read like a video game: 69 K in 39.1 IP / 23 K over his last 2 starts (12 IP) / 43.4% K Rate He leads the SAL by huge margins in K rate and K/9 (15.79), and is second in FIP (1.88). The international free-agent signing, who had a variety of visa and age falsification issues (read here), will reportedly not be pushed quickly by the Yankees due to his lack of competitive baseball experience. Hitter: Peter O’Brien, 22, RHB C, A .409/.552/.818 in 29 PA Notable: Walked 7 times on the week Like his teammate Rafael De Paula, Charleston’s Peter O’Brien already took home an MLPW this season and is quickly becoming another valuable Yankee catching prospect. Drafted out of Miami (transferred there and played 1 year), O’Brien is hitting a spectacular .325/.381/.573, ranking 6th in the SAL in OPS and tied for 5th in wRC+ (164). One level above O’Brien (2012 2nd round draft pick) is the much-hyped Gary Sanchez, and it will be interesting to watch how the Yankees handle them both, especially if O’Brien continues this hitting pace. Sanchez is two and a half years younger than O’Brien and is having a solid season at High-A Tampa (read below). Together with JR Murphy, the club has three catchers having fine MiLB campaigns. Honorable Mentions: Scottie Allen, 21, RHP, A+ 6 IP, 7 K, 0 BB, 5 H, 1 ER, 0 HR 2.77 FIP, 8th best in the FSL Charlie Short, 24, RHP, A+ 4 IP, 6 K, 0 BB, 3 H, 0 ER Has only allowed 1 ER in 17.2 IP between Low-A/High-A Dietrich Enns, 22, LHP, A 5.2 IP, 7 K, 2 BB, 4 H, 1 ER, 0 HR 2012 19th round draft pick, 15.15 K/9 Jeremy Bleich, 25, LHP, AA 3.2 IP, 5 K, 0 BB, 0 H, 0 ER Good week, but lousy 14 K / 13 BB on the season Jose Ramirez, 23, RHP, AA 5 IP, 7 K, 1 BB, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 HR 27 K / 4 BB in 20 IP in 4 starts Greg Bird, 20, RHB 1B, A .333/.454/.815 in 33 PA 3 HRs on the week, first 3 HRs of the season Jake Cave, 20, LHB CF, A .343/.400/.563 in 35 PA 5 doubles on the week Dante Bichette Jr, 21, RHB 3B, A .291/.393/.542 in 28 PA A great week in an otherwise miserable second go-around in Low-A: .191/.257/.287 Angelo Gumbs, 20, RHB 2B, A+ .350/.350/.500 in 20 PA His first week back from injury (sprained finger) Reymond Nunez, 22, RHB 1B, A .286/.310/.536 in 29 PA 2 HR on the week, .300/.364/.563 on the season Gary Sanchez, 20, RHB C, A+ .304/.400/.478 in 25 PA .273/.351/.473 on the season Slade Heathcott, 22, LHB CF, AA .304/.304/.522 in 23 PA HR and triple on week, but hitting a very disappointing .221/283/.328 to date

Triple-A Scranton (10-4 loss to Columbus) 2B Corban Joseph: 1-4, 1 BB RF Brennan Boesch: 1-2, 1 R, 3 BB – five walks and four strikeouts in four games here CF Zoilo Almonte: 0-5, 2 K — stuck in a 12-for-57 rut (.211) 3B Ronnie Mustelier: 1-5, 1 R, 1 RBI, 2 K, 1 SB, 1 E (fielding) RHP Caleb Cotham: 4.1 IP, 8 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, 6/1 GB/FB — 62 of 94 pitches were strikes (66%) … allowed four homers, so he’s up to seven in 13 innings at this level RHP Mark Montgomery: 1.2 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 0 K, 1/3 GB/FB — 25 of 39 pitches were strikes (64%) … seven walks and seven strikeouts in his last 8.1 innings Double-A Trenton (3-2 win over Bowie) LF Ramon Flores: 1-4, 1 2B DH Tyler Austin: 0-4, 1 K — one hits in his last 14 at-bats (.071) … pretty amazing how all three of the team’s top outfield prospects is falling on their face this season CF Slade Heathcott: 1-4, 1 R, 2 K RHP Zach Nuding: 5 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, 5/5 GB/FB — 72 of 105 pitches were strikes (69%) RHP Tommy Kahnle: 2 IP, zeroes, 1 K, 1/3 GB/FB — 15 of 25 pitches were strikes RHP Branden Pinder: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 0 K, 3/0 GB/FB — 11 of 20 pitches were strikes High-A Tampa (6-2 loss to Clearwater) CF Mason Williams: 2-4, 1 2B, 2 RBI, 1 K, 1 SB — nine hits in his last 33 at-bats (.272) with three doubles DH Angelo Gumbs: 0-4, 2 K 2B Rob Refsnyder: 1-4, 1 E (throwing) — seven hits in his last 35 at-bats (.200) C Gary Sanchez: 0-4, 1 K RHP Corey Black: 3.2 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 5 BB, 7 K,  WP, 1/0 GB/FB — I guess the control wasn’t there today Low-A Charleston (9-7 win over Greenville) CF Jake Cave: 4-6, 1 R, 3 2B, 1 3B, 2 RBI, 2 K – ten hits in his last 25 at-bats (.400) with five doubles and a triple SS Cito Culver: 0-6, 2 K 1B Greg Bird: 2-4, 2 R, 1 2B, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 BB — third homer in the last four games C Peter O’Brien: 1-4, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K 3B Dante Bichette Jr.: 1-4, 1 BB 2B Claudio Custodio: 2-4, 3 R, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 1 BB, 1 SB — he hit three homers total from 2011-2013 prior to this game LHP Dan Camarena: 4.1 IP, 8 H, 7 R, 7 ER, 4 BB, 3 K, 1 HB, 2/6 GB/FB — 62 of 98 pitches were strikes (63%) Post from: River Ave. Blues A New York Yankees blogCave doubles three times, Custodio homers twice in River Dogs win

Perfect for a rainy Sunday night.

Given the age of their roster, the urge to get their payroll down, and the fact that they have so many first round picks this year, is this the most important Yankees draft in a very long time? And, if yes, how confident are you that they will handle it well, given the results of Yankees first and second round picks lately?

(PR) TRENTON, NJ – A bloop single down the left field line scored a run for Bowie in the 6th inning and doomed Trenton in a tightly-pitched 3-2 loss to the Bowie Baysox Sunday. The Thunder trailed 2-0 in the 2nd inning after Zach Nuding allowed two singles and a double with the bases empty and two outs. Trenton responded by tying the game in the 4th inning with a pair of two-out runs of their own. With Kyle Roller at second which reached with a walk and Slade Heathcott at first base who bunted for a base-hit, Ali Castillo stroked a single to center field to bring home Roller. Heathcott advanced to third base on the throw, but Castillo got hung up between first and second base in a rundown. While Castillo extended the rundown, Heathcott broke for the plate ahead of the throw from the first baseman Aaron Baker to score what would be the final run of the game for the Thunder. Those two runs allowed Nuding off the hook, as he earned the no-decision after leaving with 105 pitches over five innings. He allowed two runs- both earned- on five hits and two walks while striking out five. His record remains at 1-5 with an ERA now at 3.28. The Thunder hit the road for eight straight games- four at Richmond and four at Bowie- the first of which comes Monday at 6:35 p.m. The game features RHP Mikey O’Brien (2-0, 1.64) against RHP Omar Javier (3-0, 4.05) for Richmond. Radio coverage on 91.3 FM (WTSR) and also streaming online begins at 6:20 p.m.

(PR) TRENTON, NJ – The Thunder were able to strike for six runs off Bowie’s newly-minted knuckleball-tossing starting pitcher, Zach Clark in a 6-1 victory over the Bowie Baysox Saturday night. On a night where the Thunder wore patriotic-themed jerseys at ARM & HAMMER Park, they saluted the troops in attendance by erasing a 1-0 deficit with two runs in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th innings. Second baseman Jose Pirela and right fielder Tyler Austin both reached base three times on the evening to pace the offense which scored six runs on just six hits. Clad in a red, white and blue, Thunder starting pitcher Nik Turley allowed one run on one hit in six innings for his fourth win of the season. Turley, who championed a three-hit effort by the Thunder pitching staff in front of 6,359 fans, has now won four of his last five starts. In that time he has a 2.93 ERA with 30 K in 27.2 IP. The lone run in the game for Bowie was a solo homerun by Caleb Joseph in the 2nd inning. It was Joseph’s 8th homer of the season and his second in two games against the Thunder. Francisco Rondon and Aaron Dott three scoreless innings out of the pen to preserve the lead and the victory which bumps Trenton’s record to 22-20 on the season. The Thunder and Baysox complete their three-game series Sunday at 1:05 p.m. The game features RHP Zach Nuding (1-5, 3.24) against RHP Devin Jones (1-2, 5.34) for Bowie. Limited tickets are available through the Thunder box office at (609) 394-3300 or online at http://www.trentonthunder.com/tickets. Radio coverage on 91.3 FM (WTSR) and also streaming online begins at 12:45 p.m.

While the Yankees continue to win games, it’s certainly not because of their offense. As show by the chart below, their on-base percentage has fallen off a cliff. The Yankees currently have a team OBP of .315, which ranks 10th out of 15 American League teams. This is very uncharacteristic of a team that led the major leagues with an OBP over .350 for the time period from 2000-2012. During that same time period, the worst OBP was by the Pirates and they still managed to post a .320 OBP.